Fife Council has been grilled over informing parents and pupils that cuts to school meals were off the table before they were agreed.
The pick and mix option was reinstated by councillors just hours before schools broke off for the holidays.
However, tens of thousands of letters were issued to parents and a press statement released two weeks earlier telling people of the u-turn.
Council chief executive Steve Grimmond said he would investigate the issuing of the letter, following demands from opposition councillors to know who had authorised it.
More than 3,700 people signed a petition against the council’s plan to save £142,000 by axing the pick and mix and salad bar option, leaving pupils only a single hot meal option.
SNP education spokesperson, Councillor Fay Sinclair, claimed informing parents and staff facing redundancy of the reversal before the decision had been ratified caused confusion and branded the handling shambolic.
She said: “I’m glad the decision was reached eventually but it could have been dealt with so much better without the confusion and without the delay.”
She also criticised the delay in taking the decision until the end of a full-day meeting on Thursday, leaving little time to inform parents, pupils and school staff before schools broke up for the summer holidays at lunchtime yesterday.
She said: “The failure to resolve this at a much earlier stage has caused a lot of distress to pupils, parents and certainly staff.
“It could have been agreed first thing in the morning and information sent out before the end of term.”
Although the reversal was overwhelmingly agreed, fellow SNP councillors John Beare and David Alexander demanded to know who approved the letter, written by senior catering manager Angus Thomson.
Mr Beare said: “Flyers were circulated to schools saying we, as a council, decided not to withdraw the pick and mix option in advance of this agreement by the council.
“There’s no point in us making decisions in this council if they are going to be ignored.”
Mr Grimmond said he was unaware of the letter and said: “I certainly didn’t authorise it and I will look into it.”
Announcement of the U-turn before Thursday’s approval, he said, was driven by the public response and media coverage.
He told councillors: “I felt that was consistent with the understanding there was likely to be further consideration of this issue today.”
Confirming that the cut was “absolutely” off the table, council leader Cllr David Ross said the administration had listened to public opinion and that a £5 million better than expected financial outturn for last year allowed the saving to be scrapped from the budget.
Defending the handling, he said: “There were a number of different approaches that we could have taken and we felt this was the most appropriate.
“What we have done here in changing this approach is recognise that we are listening to people.”
Instead, he said, the authority will work with parents, pupils and school staff to improve school meals but consider how to eliminate or reduce food waste in schools.
Mr Thomson said over 35,000 letters were printed for schools to give to pupils for parents and carers.
He added: “Fife Council is already working with schools to ensure that this message is effectively cascaded.”